SEM San Diego Meetup Recap: Changes to Search

As of today, there is a great deal changing over at Google. In this presentation to the awesome SEM San Diego Meetup I give a quick overview of what’s happening with Google search results, some observations about where things are headed and what business owners can do now. It’s organized by:

Google SERP Changes – A run-through of examples of Google search results, many of them having appeared in only the past 3-5 months.

What’s Happening – A look at the impact of these changes on the user and what that might mean for the user search experience going forward.

Why Is This Happening? – An overview of what I think are the main drivers of these changes in Google: (i) Knowledge Graph and (ii) Hummingbird, including highlights of why both are such “big deals”.

How Do Local Businesses Compete – Basically this is an introduction to Schema Markup, including benefits, examples and walk-through’s for creating some of the most common rich snippets, such as author photo and video thumbnail.

The Dark Side – Here I walk through four observations (or, arguments) as to whether or not the changes in Google spell “doom” for organic search as a traffic driver, “boom” for organic search and small businesses, and/or Schema helps or hurts site traffic in the long run. This is the most interesting section for me. I reference several thought leaders in the space for further exploration.

Going Forward – A run-through of key points to consider for an online business or business website as all of us maneuver the changes to Google and how best to market via interactive channels (hint: consider that search may not merit so much of the spotlight going forward).

I’ve included URLs and references to online resources and specific websites throughout the presentation so you can use it as a reference tool too.

What are your thoughts about the changes at Google and the impacts to interactive marketing?